So, picked up the car but...

[Jeps]

My wife's round trip work journey is 104miles, after using it on Wednesday, she refused to take the car on Friday & used my petrol guzzler instead.
She's going to use it tomorrow and see how it goes, if it only just makes it, we're going to have to return the car.

Realistically, although you can be careful with the heater, you need to be comfortable (she freezed her ar*e off like you did when using it on Weds). I can't give you a %, but driving at 65 on motorway vs 75 would definitely make a difference. The worse type of trip you could do is a 100% high speed motorway journey.

Hi Jody.
How low was the % when you charged it after your wify's work trip?

 

[Fishettibean]

Heated seats. It uses only 1/10 the power of air con. Not great if you got passengers in the back, unless they got a blanket...

 

[Mark Holmes]

My wife's round trip work journey is 104miles, after using it on Wednesday, she refused to take the car on Friday & used my petrol guzzler instead.
She's going to use it tomorrow and see how it goes, if it only just makes it, we're going to have to return the car.

Realistically, although you can be careful with the heater, you need to be comfortable (she freezed her ar*e off like you did when using it on Weds). I can't give you a %, but driving at 65 on motorway vs 75 would definitely make a difference. The worse type of trip you could do is a 100% high speed motorway journey.

You should be okay tomorrow as the temperature should be about 10 degrees, fingers crossed.
I’m driving tomorrow from Essex to Southampton for work which is about 110 miles, but coming back via a stop at Reading, Maidenhead and Watford and so another 140 miles and I’m hoping on getting away with hopefully only one stop around Southampton, let’s see how I get on.
If I remember I may take some photos...
That said I travelled to Cambridge last, about 62 miles and arrived with 100 miles on the GOM, but on the way back it dropped to -2 and my average miles to KWh dropped and eventually arrived home, turned of HV heating, seats were on with - - - on the GOM and when I plugged the car in only had 3% power left. That’s a total trip of about 122 miles and it’s never been that bad for me...

 

[JodyS21]

Hi Jody.
How low was the % when you charged it after your wify's work trip?

Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of it when it was plugged in after that first (and only) work trip, I take photos and record everything constantly now!
FYI: 102.8miles 42mph 3.0m/kWh, 16miles on GOM. -3c Eco obvs, no heating on at all.
The Friday was even colder hence why she wouldn't drive it.
(I've suggested dressing warmer lol)

 

[Mark Holmes]

Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of it when it was plugged in after that first (and only) work trip, I take photos and record everything constantly now!
FYI: 102.8miles 42mph 3.0m/kWh, 16miles on GOM. -3c Eco obvs, no heating on at all.
The Friday was even colder hence why she wouldn't drive it.
(I've suggested dressing warmer lol)

Very brave....that’s what I say to my wife when she says she’s cold...

 

[Jeps]

Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of it when it was plugged in after that first (and only) work trip, I take photos and record everything constantly now!
FYI: 102.8miles 42mph 3.0m/kWh, 16miles on GOM. -3c Eco obvs, no heating on at all.
The Friday was even colder hence why she wouldn't drive it.
(I've suggested dressing warmer lol)

No heating on at all in those temperatures! No wonder she don't want to drive. I can manage around 105-110miles when I have been driving to work this week (88 miles around trip) I use heater at 2-3 blobs and fan in the beginning at 3 but lower it later on to 2 blobs. This week the temperature here has been around -5 degrees and I drive around 15 miles at motorway each way. Just rember the 0range low battery symbol comes on when there is still 25% left in the "tank", to early for my liking, but as long as you know that, then that maybe prevent rangeenxiety to some degree, I hope

 

[Mark Holmes]

No heating on at all in those temperatures! No wonder she don't want to drive. I can manage around 105-110miles when I have been driving to work this week (88 miles around trip) I use heater at 2-3 blobs and fan in the beginning at 3 but lower it later on to 2 blobs. This week the temperature here has been around -5 degrees and I drive around 15 miles at motorway each way. Just rember the 0range low battery symbol comes on when there is still 25% left in the "tank", to early for my liking, but as long as you know that, then that maybe prevent rangeenxiety to some degree, I hope

That’s very true I’d like to see the old battery range changed to a battery percentage remaining switch as this helps put things in to perspective.

 

[Kithmo]

One thing is never rely on what the GOM says in ECO mode.
If you want get a true reflection of the miles you're going to get, put the car in Sport mode and the heating on full heat and take a note of the range on the GOM, this is nearer the true figure. Then put it back into whatever mode you want and set the heater to what's comfortable, bearing in mind the GOM is now over reading by whatever it says minus the previous figure and base your charging stops on that (with some room for non-working chargers).
Another thing is speed, the ZS has the aerodynamics of a brick, so the faster you go the more it's going to affect your range. Stick to 50-60 mph if you can.
I salute you for setting out on such a long journey in the first place, you're braver than me and I wish you luck with your new ownership.

 

[MrG]

I think most have already answered your concerns, but I’ll chip in too and also feel sorry for you on your first experience....things will get better.
If you ever have issues at the charging stations call the customer support numbers detailed on the chargers as they are generally very good from my experience and will help you with whatever problems your having.
Using all your electrics is fine, but please note your heating draws from your HV battery, have the heating on but perhaps don’t have it turned fully up, the higher you go the more power it draws, I normally have mine on the 2nd or 3rd heating setting. Yes the cold is making a huge difference to all EV’s, but when we get over 5 degrees you’ll start to see this improve. That said the cold coupled with your speed will see a quicker drop than normal, reduced speed will increase range, you’ll gain this knowledge with experience, but you’ll still be pleased that EV’s are they way forwards in so many ways.
You haven’t done anything wrong it’s simply a learning experience, but as you say don’t run the car mile for mile, but with time you’ll be more at one with the car and understand what you can get it out of it.
That’s said family trips at 50 miles will never be an issue for you.
Good luck going forwards

Thanks, Mark. I did slow down once the battery died on me, but that was out of fear more than anything else! When on the motorway, would keeping the car on Cruise Control help manage that speed in the 'Efficient' range, or will that just chip away at battery usage?

 

[MrG]

Very interesting & a case of “buyers initial remorse” methinks. I had similar feelings when I got mine on the 21st Dec. I think it was caused by the zero handover of the socially distanced delivery “here’s the keys mate, bye”. In my case it was all the safety features (Lane warning etc), bonging at me incessantly & I had to sit down & read the manual to get it all sorted.

Yes, there was pretty much no handover, certainly nothing to do with how to 'best' operate the vehicle. I didn't even have any of the safety features explained-I only knew of them by reading stuff here in the weeks preceding. The manual is currently on my bedside table!

 

[jamesie]

Yes, there was pretty much no handover, certainly nothing to do with how to 'best' operate the vehicle. I didn't even have any of the safety features explained-I only knew of them by reading stuff here in the weeks preceding. The manual is currently on my bedside table!

I'm guessing that you bought from Vic Young i South Shields?

If so, I had the same "hands off" experience. Somewhat understandable given the pandemic unfortunately.

 

[Mark Holmes]

Thanks, Mark. I did slow down once the battery died on me, but that was out of fear more than anything else! When on the motorway, would keeping the car on Cruise Control help manage that speed in the 'Efficient' range, or will that just chip away at battery usage?

The motorway cruse controls shouldn’t make much difference, but you do lose the effect of KER’s but in truth is minimal unless your constantly speeding up and slowing down...

 

[MrG]

Hi MrG. If you only knew my first experience with an electric car, then the 2 of us was having a laugh drinking a beer or so.
My experience with an electric car was with a rented Nissan Evalia.it is now 6 or 7 years since, but I remember it as yesterday . The car was not fully charged, I took it on the motorway, when I reached back home with sweaty armpits, and thought I could charge the car at a nearby charging station, I found out that the rented car was not supplied with any kind of cable. It's a long story, but I am now on my second EV. And will never look back to get anything else. I just realized that it was not the car that was the problem that day. It was everything around it I had to figure out to make it work. I hope you will start to love it as much as me and my family do

Jeps, that makes me feel a bit better! At least I had a granny cable in the back-fat lot of good it would have done me yesterday!

Ah, the days of sitting around over a beer-hopefully soon!

 

[MrG]

You’ll see a big difference when the temperatures increase to a normal level and the miles per KWh will increase to, I’m getting about 2.8 - 2.9 miles per KWh at present where as in the summer I get about 4.0 to 4.2 miles per KWh and if I’m driving in London it’s been as high as 4.8 in the summer..you’ll see how things change with the weather. Just to add I drive on motorways at about 65 mph...anything over 70 will have significant impact on your power usage and the speed difference doesn’t make much time difference on your overall journey.

Stuff like this:gold.

 

[Jeps]

Thanks, Mark. I did slow down once the battery died on me, but that was out of fear more than anything else! When on the motorway, would keeping the car on Cruise Control help manage that speed in the 'Efficient' range, or will that just chip away at battery usage?

Thanks, Mark. I did slow down once the battery died on me, but that was out of fear more than anything else! When on the motorway, would keeping the car on Cruise Control help manage that speed in the 'Efficient' range, or will that just chip away at battery usage?

If you really wanna stretch your range then the old saying goes: put a rotten egg under the Accelerator pedal. But that is no fun. Cruise control I think use a little ekstra because when it is accelerating then it maybe will do it harder then you will do it you self. When you do the accelerating, you can do it more smoothly and more effective, but it's not going to brake the bank. So use it when ever you feel like it, the MG pilot is a very good system.

 

[MrG]

Don't worry about voltage. The reason so much has been discussed about voltage recently is due to the BMS software bug(s) and the fix applied. Voltage has been used as the only benchmark value to give an indication as to whether a car is affected or not. It's a bit of a red herring for day to day range.

Range estimation is more important and the GOM is inaccurate at best, misleading at worst. Play it conservatively initially until you get used to the range you expect for the conditions (weather, road types, speed, need for HVAC etc). Charge more frequently than you think you need to. On your journey I would have been looking at approximately 70 miles between charges and planning accordingly. Spend some time getting familiar with an app like A Better Route Planner to plan your longer journeys.

It's a knock to your confidence with the car but don't give up.

Yes, I worked towards about 70miles for the last two legs but that's when I was worrying and thinking, "This can't be right." That range estimator will haunt my sleep for a few nights to come!

 

[MrG]

So the first photo - shows the battery wasn't 100% when they handed it over to you. Somewhere around 80%. That's 20miles gone stright away.
First blob is 25%, then each next one is about 10%ish.

Dont worry about voltage until its 100%. Check its 449v when its 100%, if so, enjoy driving the car and forget voltage. Its the "oil dip stick" of EV driving.

But 330mile journey on first drive, that impressive.

Again, am learning so much.

I'll take the praise...with a pinch of salt, as it was a disaster!!

 

[MrG]

My wife's round trip work journey is 104miles, after using it on Wednesday, she refused to take the car on Friday & used my petrol guzzler instead.
She's going to use it tomorrow and see how it goes, if it only just makes it, we're going to have to return the car.

Realistically, although you can be careful with the heater, you need to be comfortable (she freezed her ar*e off like you did when using it on Weds). I can't give you a %, but driving at 65 on motorway vs 75 would definitely make a difference. The worse type of trip you could do is a 100% high speed motorway journey.

That's a shame. I don't want to return it without giving it a chance. If anything, we'll get into summer and then make a decision after that.

Yes, comfort is very important. You don't want to be driving a car without the basic necessities of the experience.

 

[MrG]

Heated seats. It uses only 1/10 the power of air con. Not great if you got passengers in the back, unless they got a blanket...

My girls better learn to wrap up well then!

 

[MrG]

You should be okay tomorrow as the temperature should be about 10 degrees, fingers crossed.
I’m driving tomorrow from Essex to Southampton for work which is about 110 miles, but coming back via a stop at Reading, Maidenhead and Watford and so another 140 miles and I’m hoping on getting away with hopefully only one stop around Southampton, let’s see how I get on.
If I remember I may take some photos...
That said I travelled to Cambridge last, about 62 miles and arrived with 100 miles on the GOM, but on the way back it dropped to -2 and my average miles to KWh dropped and eventually arrived home, turned of HV heating, seats were on with - - - on the GOM and when I plugged the car in only had 3% power left. That’s a total trip of about 122 miles and it’s never been that bad for me...

Yes, if you can take some photos, that would be useful to see how you manage the day with range and charging.